Chapter Text
It was the usual morning when Sakura walked to Furin High School. Unlike the usual though, in one of his hands was a rather big, reddish-pink paper bag.
And instead of going straight to class 1-1, he walked to another class in the same hallway. His feet stopped in front of a similar, yet unfamiliar door.
Class 1-3.
"O.. Oi." He called to the nearest student to the door, who almost gasped at the unexpected guest. "Is Momijikawa here?"
"S-Sakura?! O, oh, yeah, he's here! Yo, Momijikawa! Class 1-1's Sakura is calling you!"
A desk suddenly rattled as if to mirror its owner's shock. Momijikawa, who did not expect a guest this early -much less a guy he had quite a roller coaster of an opinion of in just a couple days- stood up like a spring and bolted to the door.
Meanwhile the rest of the class 1-3 stare with various mixed feelings. After all, they bore witness to their big fight at the rooftop just a couple days ago. And there was the matter with each of their backgrounds, coupled with the funeral that followed. Poor Yuzuriha was about to throw up due to rising anxiety.
They didn't know that all that was in Momijikawa's head right now was the fresh image of Sakura, fresh from the shower, wearing his oversized clothes and pouting cutely like a grumpy kitten.
"What's up?" The taller boy greeted him outside the class, trying to maintain his neutral tone.
With a small grunt, Sakura unceremoniously shoved the pretty paper bag upward, towards Momijikawa's face.
"Ftth-the hell are you-Wait, this is..."
He almost barked when he saw what was inside the bag. It was the set of clothes that he lent to Sakura. And besides them were several chocolates that could be found in the small shops of Makochi market street.
"... The other day...T-thank you... It's already clean. I washed them in the coin laundry. Kotoha told me to put some snacks too as thanks.. So..." He trailed off, face starting to go red, which stunned Momijikawa.
The day of Momijikawa's grandma's funeral, Sakura had a duel with him in the river. Following that, the latter insisted that the former cleaned up in his house, even lending him clothes, dry cleaning his wet uniform, and making him dinner. In the end, when Sakura was about to go home, he told Sakura to keep wearing his clothes instead of changing back and just give it back some other time.
And that matter actually left Sakura perplexed. Since it was the first time Sakura ever borrowed someone else's clothes, he had thought hard of how to give it back properly. So hard that it showed on his face and Kotoha, who saw him in Pothos, nagged him to share with her.
It was her who told him to go wash the clothes on coin laundry, and put some snacks inside as little trinkets of gratitude. She even gave him a spare colorful paper bag she got from a clothing store.
"... Pff. You didn't have to go this far." The tall guy gave a small but happy laugh, receiving the package eagerly. "But thanks."
Hearing his response, Sakura let out a small sigh, still red but with eyes full of relief and somewhat merry. A new sight that shook Momijikawa's heart again.
The stiff tension between the two boys still existed, but it was a different kind of tension. It was almost like the animosity before was a lie and what existed there was something much more civilized and even rather sweet.
Momijikawa was about to invite Sakura to another dinner tonight, already mentally preparing a menu that he had more confidence with, when he heard a footstep.
"Oh."
Standing there was class 1-2's grade captain, Azusawa, who had just arrived. With a loud, easygoing voice that knew no concept of restraint nor delicacy, he greeted them, half yelling.
"Huh, that's unexpected! Sakura, you're giving something to Momijikawa, aren't you?"
All the lively morning noises in every corner of Furin abruptly died down. As a result, one could almost see Azusawa's words travel through the walls of the school in just a second.
The clinking of earrings should've been a gentle sound, but now it sounded more like an ominous telltale sign of a ghost.
"Sakura-kun, can you tell me what's going on?"
A certain guy with an eyepatch suddenly appeared next to Sakura's right side, smiling with no light in his eyes. It was Suo, one of Sakura's vice captains who was almost always next to him, literally.
The rest of class 1-1, spearheaded by Nirei and Kiryu, tumbled outside their classroom and into the hallway, drenched in cold sweat.
Then a series of running steps was instantly heard and also instantly stopped next to Sakura's left side. A firm hand grabbed Sakura's shoulder. It was a senior one year older, Kaji, with his face scowling even more than usual.
"I was gone for a few days and you've gotten yourself into another situation, Sakura?"
Behind Kaji was the end of a hallway connected to a staircase. There, the rest of class 2-1 students that Sakura also hadn't seen since school had resumed peeked out with great worry.
Following that, a voice boomed from the other side of the hallway. Everyone knew that it belonged to Umemiya, the one and only representative of Furin. He stood there as if his presence was the school itself.
"Sakura! Onii-chan wants to ask some questions!"
Behind him was Hiiragi with his ever-painful stomach.
"H-Huh?! The hell's up with you guys?! Too close!!"
Sakura could only look at the boys around him like a cornered cat. Suo on his right, Kaji on his left, and Umemiya behind him. Momijikawa, too, was baffled by the turn of events.
"Okay, Sakura-kun? Why don't we have a nice chat?"
"Sakura, be honest and talk now."
"After that, why don't we hear from Momijikawa too? You two will tell us what happened, right?"
Immensely pressured by the three men who, in their own ways, were prominently acknowledged in the school of fearless delinquents, Sakura and Momijikawa had no choice but to finally speak. Sakura, in particular, with great confusion.
"And that's what happened."
Sakura and Momijikawa finished recounting the events from the funeral until today. The three guys were silent the entire time. And then,
"I've known you since day 1, and you've never borrowed any of my clothes. I'm so sad, Sakura-kun."
"I don't have that many clothes, but pretty sure they would all fit you well."
"Sakura! Onii-chan would lend you any clothes!"
They suddenly switched mode into a bunch of persistent men who love to spoil. Suo was twirling one of his tassel earrings with an obviously-fake sad face. Kaji didn't sugarcoat his words, but he was beaming with absolute confidence. Umemiya heartily laughed while patting Sakura's head.
"And I will feed you my handmade cookies."
"I'll give you all my summer-special sweets."
"I'll cook you omurice! As much as you want!"
They had all said it with such friendly, carefree tones, but neither stepped back from Sakura. In fact, they just seemed to get closer and invaded his personal space. And when their eyes met the stunned Momijikawa's, they gave off an unconcealed, merciless hostility.
You're not getting him easily.
Facing such glare, that was the first time Momijikawa truly understood what was really happening in Furin during his absence. And also what he was really going into the moment he tried to win Sakura's heart. Not that it made him waver, though.
"Well, thanks again, Haruka. My invitation that night still stands, by the way."
He sincerely smiled to Sakura, and then gave a different kind of smile to the other three.
Watch me.
Veins started popping from the three men surrounding Sakura. They just stared at Momijikawa, remaining in deadlock with him and with each other. Meanwhile Sakura was starting to get restless, thinking that they were somehow going to fight and how he'd like to join. Never once he realized that he himself was the source of it all.
And for the rest of the Furin students, that morning later became remembered as the day they all got caught in a dangerous crossfire. Some smacked Azusawa on the head and gave him the stink eye for instigating a war breakout. Poor Yuzuriha actually threw up.
Extra:
On the way home, Momijikawa passed a large guy in sunglasses and a traditional samue outfit. He threw him a rather unfriendly look that didn't fit his otherwise laid-back gestures.
And in another corner, he thought he saw a suspicious guy in a turtleneck suit and a tattoo peeking out of his neck who gave off a snobby sneer full of enmity.